Each week, editors from each of the Physical Review journals choose papers that merit this treatment, aided by referee comments and internal discussion. We select commentary authors from around the world who are known for their expertise and communication skills and we devote much effort to editing these commentaries for broad accessibility.

Physics features three kinds of articles: Viewpoints are essays of approximately 1000–1500 words that focus on a single Physical Review paper or PRL letter and put this work into broader context. Trends are concise review articles (3000–4000 words in length) that survey a particular area and look for interesting developments in that field. Synopses (250 words) are staff-written distillations of interesting and important papers each week. In addition, we intend to publish selected Letters to the Editor to allow readers a chance to comment on the commentaries and summaries.